This occurs when a Merchant Advice Code (MAC code) indicates that the merchant/card combination should be blocked for the current transaction or future attempts.

This page explains how to read and interpret these fields in PayHost responses.

Overview

When a transaction is blocked due to risk rules, the response will include a RiskDetails element containing:

MerchantAdviseCode (MAC code)
BlockStatus information

No changes are required to your payment requests.
Your integration only needs to read these additional response elements.

Response Elements

RiskDetails

Contains the MAC code returned by the bank and details about the block applied.

Fields

Field	Description	Required	Type
MerchantAdviseCode	Code received from the bank indicating the reason for the block	Yes	String
BlockStatus	Information about whether the block is permanent or temporary	Yes	RiskBlockStatusType

RiskBlockStatus

Provides details about the duration of the block.

Fields

Field	Description	Required	Type	Example
Permanent	Indicates whether the merchant/card combination is permanently blocked	Yes	Boolean	false
UntilDate	Date when the block will be lifted (if temporary)	Optional	DateTime	2025-02-16T09:13:31.000+02:00

If the block is permanent, the UntilDate field will not be present.

Example CardPaymentResponse (Risk Blocked)

<ns2:RiskDetails>
  <ns2:MerchantAdviseCode>2</ns2:MerchantAdviseCode>
  <ns2:BlockStatus>
    <ns2:Permanent>false</ns2:Permanent>
    <ns2:UntilDate>2025-02-16T09:13:31.000+02:00</ns2:UntilDate>
  </ns2:BlockStatus>
</ns2:RiskDetails>

In this example:

The transaction was declined due to risk controls
The block is temporary
Further attempts with the same merchant/card combination may fail until the specified date

When This Occurs

Risk blocks may be applied when:

The issuing bank flags suspicious activity
Repeated failed attempts occur
Fraud prevention rules are triggered
Previous transactions with the same merchant/card combination were rejected

Implementation Guidance

To support risk-block handling:

Parse the RiskDetails element in payment responses
Check the MerchantAdviseCode value
Inspect the BlockStatus fields
If temporary, prevent retry attempts until the specified date
If permanent, inform the customer to use another payment method

WSDL Reference

For full schema definitions, refer to the PayHost WSDL:

https://secure.paygate.co.za/payhost/process.trans?wsdl